Tag Archives: linguistics

My Fair Lady (1964)

An adaptation of the 1913 play “Pygmalion,” “My Fair Lady” was one of the vehicles that propelled Audrey Hepburn into super-stardom. We were used to seeing her as an elegant, refined lady, and in the first scenes of this film, we see her as Eliza Doolittle, the crass, dirty flower peddler who hangs out at the opera house to hit up the patrons for a few coins in exchange for her floral bundles. Her accent is the broadest form of cockney in the land, and when Professor Henry Higgins lays ears on her, he knows he must study her for … Continue reading →

Cat Calls: Why Doesn’t Anyone Ever Answer?

Anyone who has ever made the acquaintance of even one feline knows that cats will come when they are called only if and when they feel like it. I don’t know who said it, but I once came across an expression that sums the feline personality up as follows: “Dogs Come When Called, Cats Leave a Message and Get Back To You.” But from where did this descriptive and distinctly unpleasant term derive, and why is it associated with one of our most beloved four legged companions? A catcall can be defined as the “derisory or impatient call or cry … Continue reading →

Cat Got Your Tongue? Nasty Thought

As we consider the cat’s place in our modern language (for we already know where they stand in our hearts), we become increasingly aware of odd phrases and expressions that surely came down to us from somewhere. Unlike other types of hand-me-downs, some of these metaphors are more obscure than others, and in this case, its exact origins may never be known. Why are you not talking? Have you nothing to say? That is what “cat got your tongue?” has come to mean in modern usage. Although none agree as to where it came from, most historians of the written … Continue reading →